Caleb Wilson's Third Fracture in Nine Months Reportedly Costs 4-6 Weeks
The No. 4 pick is having surgery on a fractured right hand, ESPN reported, after hurting it reaching in on Victor Wembanyama, and Chicago plays 11 games before the four-week mark.
Photo: NBA.com. Caleb Wilson, Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls rookie Caleb Wilson is having surgery on a fractured right hand and will miss four to six weeks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Thursday. Chris Haynes reported he will be out at least a month. Wilson, the No. 4 pick in June's draft, is averaging 18.9 points through 10 starts for a Bulls team that has lost eight straight to fall to 1-9.
It is the third broken bone in one of Wilson's hands in nine months. The first two ended his only college season.
The pattern
At North Carolina, Wilson broke a bone in his left hand in a Feb. 10 loss at Miami and missed six games. He had been cleared for individual workouts and was working back when he broke his right thumb dunking in a non-contact practice drill on March 5. The thumb needed surgery and ended his season before the NCAA tournament. He averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in 24 games for the Tar Heels.
The newest break came in the third quarter of Wednesday's 124-119 loss to San Antonio. Wilson's hand hit the ball as he tried to knock it out of Wembanyama's hands, according to ESPN and NBA.com. He had 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes when he left, and he had come into the night questionable with right hip soreness.
The thumb broke on a dunk in a non-contact drill. The newest break came on a reach-in. Those are different plays, which makes this harder to read as one flaw to coach out of him. It still lands on the same part of the body, for a forward whose value comes from active hands. He averages 1.8 steals.
What the first 10 games showed
The bigger story of Wilson's first month was the jump shot. He took 1.1 threes a game at North Carolina, per Yahoo Sports. Ten games into his NBA career, he has taken 71, or 7.1 a game, and made 23 for 32.4 percent, per Basketball-Reference. He hit six in a loss at Boston on Oct. 30 and four in a loss at Philadelphia on Nov. 2.
The rest of the line is uneven. Wilson is shooting 42 percent from the field. He had nine turnovers in his NBA debut at Toronto and 18 combined in the nine games since. His best night was the 30-point, 14-rebound home debut against Washington, which The Dyme covered at the time. His worst was a 2-of-12 night in a 30-point loss to New York on Nov. 4.
That is the normal shape of a rookie's first month on a rebuilding roster: volume first, efficiency later. The surgery stops the process before the efficiency part could start.
What the Bulls lose
Chicago overhauled its front office and hired a new coach this spring. Wilson is the first player drafted by new head of basketball operations Bryson Graham, and he plays for first-year coach Tiago Splitter. For a franchise at 1-9, the number that matters most this season is not the record. It is how many minutes the No. 4 pick gets to work on his game.
Those minutes are what this injury takes. By our count from Thursday's surgery, the Bulls play 11 games before the four-week mark on Dec. 10 and 18 before the six-week mark on Dec. 24. The calendar helps a little. After a Dec. 3 home game against Cleveland, the Bulls do not play again until Dec. 13, so any return from Dec. 4 through Dec. 13 costs him the same 11 games.
Wilson came into Wednesday as a Rookie of the Year candidate on 19.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 32.4 minutes. A month out will likely hurt his chances in that race. It does not erase what he showed in October.
The question for December
The losses will keep coming either way. The real issue is what Wilson looks like when he comes back. A third broken bone in his hands raises fair questions about how he reaches, how he lands and how the Bulls manage him. The best sign from his first month is the shooting. A rookie who kept taking seven threes a night while they mostly missed has the right habit for his development. Chicago needs him to come back in December still taking those shots.
Sources
- Shams Charania (ESPN) on X: surgery, four to six weeks
- Chris Haynes on X: at least a month after surgery
- ESPN: Bulls rookie Caleb Wilson leaves game with right hand injury
- NBA.com: Wilson exits game vs. Spurs with hand injury
- ESPN/AP recap: Spurs 124, Bulls 119
- Yahoo Sports: Wilson leaves Spurs game with hand injury
- Basketball-Reference: Caleb Wilson 2026-27 game log
- Basketball-Reference: 2026-27 Bulls schedule and results
- UNC Athletics: Wilson breaks right thumb in practice (March 6, 2026)
- Hoops Rumors: Bulls select Caleb Wilson fourth overall
- The Dyme: Wilson's 30 and 14 in his United Center debut
Related Posts
Down 10 With 4:41 Left, LSU Beats No. 14 Gonzaga 81-80 on Donovan Dent's Step-Back Three
Gonzaga had a 96.9 percent chance to win, per ESPN's win probability, after a Xaivian Lee three made it 75-65 with 4:41 left. LSU scored 16 of the last 21 points, and the Bulldogs did not make a field goal over the final 3:02.
Prince Scores a Career-High 35 as No. 25 Nebraska Turns 24 Kansas Turnovers Into 39 Points in a 105-73 Win
Kansas shot 57 percent and still lost by 32. The Jayhawks turned it over 24 times, Nebraska scored 39 points off those turnovers, and Britt Prince went 12 of 18 from the field and 9 of 9 at the line.
Stonehill Shoots 13 of 54 as No. 16 Texas Tech Wins 88-37 for Its 50th Straight Nonconference Home Win
Texas Tech held Stonehill to 24 percent shooting, outrebounded the Skyhawks 59-24 and won the paint 44-12. Freshman DaKari Spear scored 22 off the bench, 18 of them in the second half.